Heterogeneity of the horizontal environment drives community assemblages and species coexistence of prokaryotic communities in cold seep sediments.

Introduction: Microorganisms play important roles in methane oxidation and carbon turnover of cold seep ecosystem. Although the microbial diversity of cold seep sediments has been reported, the community assembly processes, species coexistence patterns, and their underlying drivers across horizontal gradients of distinct cold seep habitats remain largely unexplored. To address this gap, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of prokaryotic communities in various habitats of the Haima cold seeps, aiming to elucidate the mechanisms governing microbial community construction in this sedimentary environment. Methods: Sediment samples were collected from the Haima cold seep and subsequently analyzed through an integration of geochemical measurements and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Results: The prokaryotic community at the methane seep site exhibited lower Discussion: This study demonstrated that environmental heterogeneity is a key determinant of prokaryotic community diversity and composition in the cold seep, driving distinct community assembly and species coexistence patterns across different habitats.